Fire-escape and table.



No. 731,160. PATENTED JUNE 16,1903.

J. E. BURNS.

FIRE ESCAPE AND TABLE.

APPLICATION FILED Ar'n. 12, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

i ll QZZZ? m V UNITED STATES Patented June 16, 1903.

JOHN E. BURNS, OF NORTHPORT, NEW YORK.

FIRE-ESCAPE AND TABLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 731,160, dated June 16, 1903.

Application filed April 12, 1902. Serial No. 102,639. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN E. BURNS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Northport, in the county of Suffolk and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Fire- Escape and Table; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to a combined fireescape and table; and it has for its object to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient device designed to be used in the rooms of hotels and other high buildings and adapted when not in use as a fire-escape to serve as a table and capable of being quickly placed in position on the exterior of a building to permit persons to descend safely to the ground in event of a fire or other accident.

A further object of the invention is to provide a fire-escape of this character which will not burn up should a portion of it be subjected to a fire and which will be easy to descend and not cramp or injure the hands of a person passing down it.

The invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and shown, and pointed. out in the claim appended hereto.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, and in which like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts, Figure 1 is an elevation of a double fire-escape constructed in accordance with this invention and shownin position for use. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View, showing the parts arranged to form atable. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detailed sectional View of one side of the flexible ladder.

1 designates a flexible ladder, designed when not in use to be arranged in the form of a roll, which has a central opening 2 for the reception of an arm 3, which depends from a table-top 4 of circular form and of greater diameter than the roll to extend beyond the same; but it will be readily apparent that the table-top may be of any other preferred form. By this construction the device forms an efficient table and may be employed as such when the flexible ladder which constitutes the fireescape is not in actual use.

The device when not in use as a fire-escape is designed to form a table, as before described, and it is adapted to be placed in the rooms of hotels and other high buildings where it will be ready for instant use, and the table-top may be quickly removed from the coiled ladder to permit the latter to be attached to a windowsill or other suitable support by means of a hook 6 or other suitable fastening device, as indicated in Fig. l of the drawings. In placing the ladder in position it is. only necessary to attach one end of it to a hook, and the roll is then dropped out of the window and will automatically unwind, leaving the ladder in position for use.

The flexible ladder, which may be made double, as shown in Fig. 1, to enable two persons to descend simultaneously, can of course be made single by omitting the central cable hereinafter described and lessening its width; but as this modification is readily apparent a detailed view of the same is deemed unnecessary. The flexible ladder when constructed double will enable one person to assist a feeble or timid person to the ground, and it is composed of central and side cables 7 and S and transverse connecting-rungs 9, and the side cables are preferably extended inward at the ends of the ladder and crossed and connected to form loops 10 and 11. The loops l0 and 11 are located at the center of the ends of the ladder and are connected to the ends of the center cable; but loops may, if de sired, be provided at opposite sides of each end of the ladder for engaging a pair of hooks. The loop 11 at the lower end of the ladder is designed to be staked or otherwise anchored to the ground to prevent the ladder from swaying when subjected to the weight of a person. Each cable is composed of a central core or filling and series of fine-tempered steel wires 12, arranged around the core or filling 13 and woven together, the said core or filling being adapted to prevent the fine steel wire from kinking. The cable is then wrapped in a covering 14 of asbestos or other suitable indestructible material, which not only prevents the ladder from being injured from fire, but which also increases the size of the, cable to enable the same to be conveniently grasped by a person descending the ladder without cramping or otherwise injuring the fingers.

The rungs, which are suitably secured to the cables, are also provided With an asbestos covering 15 to increase their size to enable them to be conveniently grasped and also to protect them. The rungs consist of stout rods of sufficient thickness to sustain the Weight of a person Without bending, and the asbestos covering forms a pad and Will enable the ladder to be conveniently descended, and it may be secured to the ladder by any suitable means. The size of the cables and their elasticity may also be increased by placing strands of rubber or other suitable material around the fine steel Wires 12 between the same and the asbestos covering. This will also prevent the Wires from kinking and will afford an elastic grip to enable the cables to be conveniently grasped by a person descending the fire-escape.

In practice the upper or outer end of the flexible ladder Will be provided with a hook or other suitable fastening device for engaging the adjacent portion of the ladder to prevent the same from uncoiling when the parts are arranged to form a table; but a hook Will be found preferable, as it may be quickly disengaged to permit the ladder to unroll automatically when it is dropped out of the Win-. dow.

. It will be seen that the device is exceedin gly simple and inexpensive in construction, that it is adapted to be conveniently arranged for use as a table when it is not in use as a fire-escape, and that it may be quickly placed in position. It will also be apparent that the asbestos covering and the elastic filling Will not only protect the ladder, but will also greatly facilitate the descent of aperson, and that the asbestos covering will enable the ladder to be kept in position on the exterior of a building Without being injured by the Weather.

I desire it to be understood that changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is In a device of the class described, a flexible ladder arranged in the form of a roll and having a vertical central opening to receive a central leg of a table-top, said ladder being composed of rungs, cables consisting of finely-Woven Wires, a filling or core to prevent kinking, and a covering of soft indestructible material, coverings of indestructible material for the rungs, and means for holding the ladder in the form of a roll, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN E. BURNS.

WVitnesses:

WM. B. OODLING, G. O. PARTRIDGE. 

